ROADS
- Spartanburg County has the second highest number of miles (over 1,700) of locally maintained roads.
- Many local roads are ‘farm to market’ roads that have transitioned from gravel roads to tar & gravel roads, then to paved roads. Roads that once served low volume agricultural traffic are now expected to handle higher volume residential commuting traffic. Many roads may never have had proper foundation and base for current usage.
- Typical road resurfacing lasts about 15-20 years.
- Cost to resurface a road in fair-to-good condition is about $40,000 per mile. If a road is allowed to deteriorate to poor condition, the cost can rise to about $120,000 per mile.
- Public Works staff estimates a minimum annual investment of $4.2 million is needed to maintain roads in adequate condition.
BRIDGES
- A significant number of local bridges need replacement. Many have wooden support structures that are starting to fail.
DRAINAGE PROJECTS
- An often-overlooked element of local road infrastructure is the drainage system. About 30 years ago a significant amount of corrugated metal piping was installed in drainage projects. Much of this pipe has been rusting out and starting to fail. This can lead to failure of the road itself.
SAFETY/INTERSECTION PROJECTS
- Most local roads do not have adequate shoulders. Many have curves or other design features that are not safe for the volume and type of traffic currently being carried.
- There are many roads that could handle higher volumes of traffic, or existing volumes more safely, if improvements were made to key intersections.
TOTAL NEEDS
- The total of the minimum funding needs itemized above is over $6.5 million annually.
- The providing of a local road/bridge system is one of the most basic and primary functions of local government.
- Prior to 2005, the County did not have a designated, stable and recurring source of funding the maintenance of local county roads and bridges.
- Funding had varied widely in the years before the Road Maintenance Fee was established. For example, annual investments in road resurfacing from county funds ranged from $1.6 to $1.9 million from 1995 to 1998 and then grew to about $2.6 million in 1999 & 2000, but were $500,000 or less from 2002 to 2005.
- Road resurfacing is a public investment where a delay in dealing with current needs can result in a much higher amount of public funds having to be spent in the future to achieve the same results.
- Road Maintenance Fees are one of the most often tools used by country governments throughout the state to provide public funding of road/bridge maintenance. Currently, a majority (24 of 46) of South Carolina counties currently use this mechanism to provide a stable and recurring source of funding for local maintenance.
The Board of Directors of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce believes that an ongoing priority of Spartanburg County Council should be to continue the commitment of a dedicated, stable and recurring source of funding toward a comprehensive annual maintenance program for local roads and bridges.
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